Monday Challenge: My Commissar [ Edited ]

[Dan_Diego]

My Commissar

Jodie mounted the wide angle lens to the camera body, turned to her best friend and said, "I can tell twenty photos into the wedding whether the marriage will last or not."

Beth set her coffee down, grinned at her friend and said, “This is just like college when you told me not to date Frank.”

“You shouldn’t have.”

“Duh.” Beth sat back in her chair and threw her arms up in the air. “Frank and I have been married for a year now.”

“Eleven months, I was there.”

“You’re full of crap.” Beth watched as Jodie swiveled the laptop into view. “What’s this?”

“I’m going to show you how I know whether a marriage will last or not.”

Jodie maneuvered the touchpad on the laptop clicked on the Slideshow icon. The laptop screen went blank and Jodie motioned Beth closer. They both leaned in to the screen.

“Now I’m going to show you two versions of the same photograph,” Jodie looked at Beth to see if she was paying attention. “The first photo is with a commercial grade filter, the second photo is with My Commissar.”

“Your Commissar?”

“My Commissar,” Jodie corrected her friend. She reached into her bag and pulled out a gray filter. She ran her fingers along the outer edge and said, “It’s Russian. You can see the Cyrillic characters above the threads.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Jodie fixed the filter onto her camera lens and set the unit down. She punched the right arrow key on the keyboard. “Here’s the Miller wedding from last week.” A photo appeared on the display of a beautiful bride and her handsome groom posed in front of a church fountain. “Notice anything?”

“They seem to be in love.”

“I agree.” Jodie punched the right arrow key and the picture changed. In this picture, the Millers stood in front of the same fountain. Their bodies appeared in silhouette with orange glows emanating from the areas of their hearts.”

“What are those?” Beth pointed at the glows.

“Infrared returns,” Jodie answered. “My Commissar is a military grade infrared lens. It detects heat and its intensities.”

“Both of the Miller hearts have high intensities.”

“The marriage will last. If the intensities never change in the first twenty photographs, we have a winner!”

Jodie paged through the Miller album, confirming the intensities displayed by the infrared lens.

“Show me one that didn’t last.”

Jodie navigated to a different folder on the laptop and started a new slideshow. “This is the Franklin wedding from two years ago.”

Beth waited as the Franklins flashed before her, posed at the altar with their bridal party. Eight silhouettes sprang into view and seven infrared intensities warmed their hearts.

“Oh my God,” Beth said, “There is no warmth in the groom’s heart.”

Jodie paged through the slideshow until one photograph caught her eye. “Do you see the groom’s warm heart in this photo?”

“Why the change?”

“Look who’s in the picture.”

“Who’s the other girl?” Beth pointed to the silhouette of a girl that was alongside Mr. Franklin, but not the bride.

“I think she became ‘the other woman.’ The Franklins divorced about a month ago.”

Jodie excused herself and left for the rest room.

Beth sat back and thought about the Millers and the Franklins. Then she remembered her own wedding to Frank. They had a civil ceremony at city hall. It’s what they wanted. It was just the two of them with her best friend as photographer. She swiveled the laptop into her direct view and exited the Franklin wedding. She glanced at the bathroom door and worried that Jodie would appear. Her fingers shook as she listed an entire directory of last names. They were listed in chronological order. She found the Millers near the top and the Franklins on the bottom. Her wedding pictures should be about half-way up.

She glanced again at the bathroom door and gaped at the folder titled Frank and Beth.

A customer at the counter dropped a fistful of coins on the floor and scared Beth. She opened her wedding folder and let her finger rest above the slideshow button. The door to the restroom swung eerily open. Jodie emerged, her attention drawn to the coffee shop door.

Beth pressed the slideshow button.

Jodie went towards the door.

Beth recognized her first wedding photo.

Jodie threw her arms out in front of her.

Beth paged to the next photo, an infrared shot.

Jodie pulled the man who entered the store closer.

Beth stared down at the intense glow around her heart and then at Frank's cold missing heart. “Oh my God.”

Jodie cried “Stop” from across the room.

Beth picked up the camera unit and pointed it towards Jodie. When focused, she saw her husband standing beside Jodie, with two bright glows as big as the Millers’.

[GS2991]

I like the spin on the end of you storys. Good job.